Marlowe further highlights Faustus’ scholarly nature through his choice of language for the character which is mostly extensive, with many references to well known philosophies, ‘Summum bonum’ that again support Marlowe’s portrayal of Faustus. In the first scene in particular the language can be seen as quite difficult, which is interesting as it may be seen to make it hard for the audience to engage well into the play. However it may also be seen to reflect to complexity of the play to come and to make the audience pay close attention. In Faustus’ speeches, Latin is often used. In Marlowe’s time Latin was the language of the church and connected to the universities, the educated. Again this is further emphasising Faustus’ knowledge but also the connection people at the time would have made would have been to church, where they would have heard Latin being used. Marlowe is therefore able to use it as a constant reminder to his audience as to the fundamental predicament Faustus is getting himself into.
Much of Faustus’ speech is n the form of soliloquies. This technique is often used to express individual characters true thoughts or emotion. Marlowe does use them for this purpose to some extent but they seem to reveal more about Faustus character as in them he is continuously evaluating himself. Such soliloquies are interesting devices of Marlowe’s as they can be interpreted in so many different ways. Perhaps Faustus can be seen as mad, talking to himself, to an audience in Marlowe’s time they may see this as most feasible, just because Faustus has even considered meddling in magic. On the other hand Faustus could be seen as stepping back and trying to assess himself from a detached position, which could be a good skill, yet only if done accurately, as we see it is not. Marlowe uses Faustus’ own words to expose his weaknesses. For example in his initial speech the quotations he uses from the bible are selective, so as to give only a negatives view of religion.
‘If we say we that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves, and there’s no truth in us.’
This quotation is from the first book of John and Faustus does no continue with the following line, which states our sins will be forgiven if we repent. This is a concept Faustus continually denies throughout the play leading to his fall.
Marlowe presents Faustus in such a way that despite his intentions the audience sympathise with his character. This is mainly due to the fact that his intentions are mostly good despite the appalling means of which he sets about achieving them. In the early scenes of the play it often seem Faustus is doing the wrong thing but for the right reasons for example he wishes to’ wall al Germany with brass’, which is very patriotic of him, however turning to magic is arguably not the moral way to go about this. However some of Faustus’ ambitions portray him as arrogant and self centred, ‘I’ll have them fly to India for gold,’ or ‘ reign soul king of all our provinces’. Despite this though his goals are impressive that the audience somehow feel sympathetic towards him. Also in order to make the audience empathise with Faustus’ character Marlowe continuously reinforces the idea that Faustus does try to resist temptation but he is simply unable to do so.
In Scene 3, Faustus first encounters Mephastophilis; he is warned by him of how dearly he will pay for selling his soul, through him telling of his own background. Faustus however dismisses Mephastophilis’ concerns as he does on many occasions, choosing instead to ignore all the horrors of hell he is told of. Marlowe shows this through having Faustus tell Mephastophilis to reappear in a different form, one more aesthetically pleasing, with less reminder of hell. Even early on in the play Marlowe makes it clear that despite Faustus being so academic he is willing to be oblivious to things that contradict the world, as he wants to see it, despite its consequences. This concept is continued in that even the clown realises the soul is worth a lot, yet Faustus, a learned man does not feel he has paid too dearly.
In the first few scenes Marlowe focuses on Faustus extensive academic knowledge, mainly through the use of language, to show how ones own ignorance can be the downfall of even the most educated. Faustus’ reoccurring blindness to reality is continuously reinforced, as is the religious theme. Marlowe presents his audience with a character complex in their nature and in the issues concerning them, to such an extreme that the audience is left intrigued to discover why such a clever man does not manage to overcome his blindness and redeem himself.
